General Elections will begin from the 7th of April and continue till the 12th of May.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi today, Chief Election Commissioner V.S.

Sampath said that polls for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies will be held in nine phases.He said, besides General Elections, Assembly Elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim will also be held simultaneously. The counting of votes will be held on the 16th of May.

With the announcement of elections, the model code of conduct comes into force with immediate effect. The CEC announced that electoral rolls have been updated as of January 1, 2014 and published in all the states.

He also said that the NOTA option will be used for the first time in these Lok Sabha polls.